


Deck of Cards

by LordRosswood



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, I wrote this a long time ago, Jackie and Wilson actually, this was inspired by a Hozier song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 09:46:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14892290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordRosswood/pseuds/LordRosswood
Summary: Hawke and his friend's lives seem to be moving rather slow. This isn't something that bothers Hawke in the least and he rather enjoys the pace. On the other had it drives his mother and friends nuts. Suddenly a bombshell announcement from his mother sends his world spinning, and Hawke is no longer sure what to think of his life.





	Deck of Cards

I locked the door with a click and sighed. It had been a long day and even longer night. I walked towards Ace and noticed he was sleeping, his body awkwardly strewn across one of the tables. He still had a beer bottle in his hand, the drunkard. Unlike Ace I had some common sense and decided to sleep in the back room of our bar. As quietly as I could,I slid open the door to the back, but stopped when I heard Ace start to stir.  
“She’s gonna save me, Eagle Eye, she really is.” I turned towards him and gave him a look that tried to display both my disbelief that she was gonna save him and the fact I was too tired to put up with him calling me Eagle Eye. He must have understood at least part of that look based on his slurred response of, “Yeah, yeah I know Hawke is your name, not Eagle Eye but, really I think this girl may turn my life around buddy.”   
I stared at Ace, his fiery red hair a mess as always. His cheeks, much more round than most thirty year olds, were tinted red from all the alcohol he had been drinking. “You’re drunk,” I told him, “and I am much too drunk and tired to put up with your bull.” I walked into the back room and laid down on the cot. I know that what I said to Ace could be seen as harsh but, trust me it’s not. Ace has always been up girl’s skirts, and it didn’t make him a bad person but he had a different girl every five minutes. I had heard him say every one of those girls was “ the love of my life” in his words.  
Personally I had never been into relationships and girls and all that. I had always had trouble clicking with girls in a romantic sense. Any girlfriend I ever had left me, either because I seemed like I “didn’t care about our relationship” or because I was moving too slow. I had my friends and that’s all I cared about in the end.  
Ace and I had been doing dumb shit since we became friends at thirteen. Our bar, “Deck of Cards” was our latest heist. We opened it together when we were twenty three and when I told Ace I could’ve cared less what it was named as long as it was appropriate, Ace christened it “Deck of Cards” as a hint towards his name. It’s not what you’d really expect considering we opened it at twenty three years old. No loud music or pumping lights or drunks dancing inappropriately, just a quiet bar to get a few drinks with friends after work. Even at twenty three I guess we were tired.   
Even as I stared at the ceiling willing myself to sleep I was trying to puzzle together who Ace’s new chick was. Ace and I had grown up in small town and Ace had dated just about every girl in our age range. As I fell asleep I made one request of God; that Ace hadn’t been desperate enough to go for a cougar.

 

I awoke the next morning to a throbbing headache. Maybe I shouldn’t have drunk all I had the night before. I understand why it might be confusing to an outsider as to why Ace and I were drinking when we should’ve been working that night. We had actually shut down the bar because our mutual friend Isabelle had graduated college and got her PhD in biotech engineering, which seem to us a good reason to celebrate so technically we were working.  
I was honestly surprised when she asked to rent out the bar, we had grown apart. I didn’t blame her getting a PhD takes a lot of time and focus, and I wasn’t really doing much to upkeep communication on my end. I had another good reason to be shocked. It all stems from that whole “Ace has dated just about every girl in our town” thing. Well Isabelle wasn’t exempt from that and her and Ace’s break up was probably one of the worst I’ve seen, and I’ve seen Ace break up with quite the number of girls. I tried to remain on good terms with her but it’s hard to remain on good terms when you know it was your best friend that cheated. He was drunk and had his tongue so far down some other girl’s throat I’m shocked she didn’t suffocate. Isabelle saw, and well the rest is pretty standard. I gave Ace shit for it and tried to be nice to Isabelle while she got over it. She told me she was amazed I didn’t take Ace’s side leaving me to explain that even though we are friends, when Ace does some dumb shit I don’t defend him.  
I pulled myself off the cot resigning myself to the fact I needed to get home and dressed. I walked out to the main part of the bar and grabbed my keys from a rack we had hanging on the wall. Ace was there wiping down the bar when a terrible thought struck me. What if Isabelle was the girl Ace had mentioned last night? And although my dating experience begins and ends at almost nothing, it doesn’t take a genius to know that hooking up with an ex you cheated on is a bad idea. “Hey Ace I got an important question” I said.  
“What?” Ace looked up at me, his hair partially obscuring his face.  
“That girl you mentioned last night, the one you said was going to save you, what’s her name?” I asked.  
He grinned, Ace had crooked teeth but it never seemed to stop him from smiling. “Her name is Jennifer, but I call her Jenny.” I felt immediate relief but it soon turned to confusion. He looked back down to the bar top and started cleaning, oblivious to me.  
“Thank God I’d thought you started dating Isabelle again.” Ace’s head snapped up. He started to speak but I cut him off. “I’m glad to hear you’re not stupid enough to date the girl you cheated on, but who’s Jenny? I don’t remember anyone in our age range named Jenny; tell me you’re not desperate enough to go for cougars.”  
“Oh hell no, Hawke! Isabelle was a stick in the mud, like hell I’d go for her again. Also you know as well as I that I only date girls our age or younger.” Ace said, feigning hurt. “And Jenny just moved into town managing to be lucky enough to meet me.” There was that smart ass attitude of his.  
“Would Jenny consider herself as lucky if she knew every girl in Erimount has dated you?” I replied. Ace’s didn’t even bother to look up at me, but flipped me off. “I have to go home and get ready; I have to meet my mom for lunch today.” I said.  
As I was climbing the steps to leave the bar Ace started talking. “Tell your mother I said hi. She’s a wonderful lady; I don’t understand how you came from her.” It was my turn to flip off Ace as I walked out the bar.  
The cool breeze hit me like a truck and I suddenly realized I had left my coat in my apartment. It was December and winter in Erimount is a bitch. I trenched through the snow to my apartment; a ten minute walk. At least the trip would give me a chance to look around outside. I lived in Erimount my whole life but I’ve never stopped thinking it’s beautiful. Erimount is in an isolated mountainous community. One of those, “everyone knows each other and is close” deals. In the spring I loved how the buds appeared on the trees and flowers; in the summer smelling the scent of grass and bonfires while looking at the tracks of wild animals. I liked fall and winter best though. In the fall the leaves changed color and they rattled in the trees, sounding like a long lost language. In the winter the snow gave a satisfying crunch beneath your feet and laid freshly on the branches of trees in little plies. I walked down the sidewalk of the tiny village, exchanging quick greetings with those who passed.   
My mind started to wander back to Ace and his new girl. I doubted Ace when he said this girl would change his life but hey, miracles can happen. Although Ace was definitely an ass he did really need a girl. Whether this girl would be Jenny or not still had to be determined. I reached my apartment building and went to open the door but a hand pushed it open for me. When I went to thank whoever it was I saw it was my friend Jonathan. Jonathan was short and would kill anyone that called him that. Sucked for him though because he was only a little taller than five foot five and both Ace and I were both above six feet. All three of us lived in the Erimount Heights, as did most people in Erimount who were too poor to afford a house and too prideful or old to live with their parents. The three of us had separate apartments and thank God for that, I could barely handle those two the few times I saw them during the day, I’m sure if I lived with them I’d have killed them.  
“Coming home now?” Jonathan said with a pompous look on his face. I liked Jonathan and all but he could be a real braggart sometimes.  
“Yeah, Isabelle’s party went late last night and I didn’t feel like walking home. I have to get into my apartment though so I can get ready to meet my mom.” I said.  
“Alright well don’t let me stop you. I just got called into work anyways.” Jonathan replied.  
I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I forgot one quick question before you go.” I was wondering if he had heard anything about this Jenny.  
“What? I’m kind of in a rush.” He said in a huffy tone. Jonathan probably had been called in as a last minute substitute for the nearby school.  
“What do you know about the new girl Jenny?” I asked. I know I said everyone in Erimount knew each other but honestly I never cared to get to know many people. If someone new moved in I’d have been the last to hear about it. From the way Jonathan responded I could tell I was.  
“She moved in last week dumbass. She’s some photographer or something and has apparently gained the title of Ace’s latest girl.” Jonathan said clearly fed up. He hurriedly walked outside, wrapping his coat tighter around himself as he went. I turned walked to the elevator, as I pressed the button I remember something my father had once told me. If you have a daughter she will always date some artistic guy, usually a photographer or some bull. My father was the type of man who thought serotypes were always true and in turn a lot of his opinions were based off them. Seemed that Ace had dated so many girls he began to pick up on their romantic stereotypes. I’d thought I had better watch him otherwise he’d be the one wanting to see rom coms.   
With that final thought the elevator arrived and I got in, hitting the button for the eighth floor. Jonathan’s apartment, as well as mine own were on the eighth floor, which was the top floor of the building. Ace’s was on the first because he’s a wimp that hates heights. Our apartments were all roughly the same yet slightly different, like the homes in a suburban neighborhood. All of the houses look generally the same but with slightly different layout plans, colors, and decorations; same goes for our apartments. I walked into my mostly empty apartment. If I didn’t know that I lived there I would think no one did based on the way it looked.  
I grabbed some decent looking clothes and hopped into the shower. My mom had called me a few days back asking to see me. We made plans to eat at some local restaurant she claimed was good. My mom was quite the character. Jesus, my name is a dead giveaway to that fact! Hawke. Who in their right mind names their child Hawke? My mother I guess. We aren’t even one of those hippy families and I can’t think of any other reason as to why my name is Hawke. Although my mother had always been a little out there so that probably has something to do with it. I had considered changing my name a few times in my life to something reasonable like Thomas but never went through with it. I guess I became attached to the name as dumb as it sounds. If I was to change it for any reason it’d have been to get a job. For some reason potential employers are less likely to hire if they see “Hawke” as your name. Since Ace and I had opened Deck of Cards that wasn’t an issue for me as we were our own bosses and thereforth our own employers.  
I got out of the shower and quickly got dressed. I didn’t have a clock in my bathroom so I couldn’t tell if I was on schedule, which I thought was normal but Ace and Jonathan both yelled at me for it so I guess I was the odd one out. I walked into my kitchenette to see the time. It was 11:45 which was enough time for me to get to the restaurant my mom said she’d meet me at. I had never been to the restaurant but I knew where it was. Like most things in Erimount it could be found in the village, in fact I had often seen it on my way to work.  
It claimed to be an authentic Indian restaurant but with Erimount’s population of 95% white people, 4% population of black people, and 1% “other” I kind of doubted that it was authentic or even good, but going made my mother happy.  
I rushed out of the apartment building to get there on time. As I walked down Main Street I heard a female voice calling for me.  
“Hey Hawke, wait up!” I turned and saw Isabelle running to me. Her hair was up in a bun and she was wearing a graphic tee with jeans. I waited for her to catch up.   
“What no work today?” I said gesturing to her outfit.  
“Nope it’s Sunday and I work Monday through Friday.” She started to pull back her hair as she spoke. “I’ll start paying you back for the party when I get my next paycheck. Are you doing anything interesting later?”  
“Well I’m actually on my way to meet my mom right now and then I have to work the usual hours, four till two.” I told her hoping the part about my mom would rush our conversation along. I didn’t mind talking to her, but I really did not want to be late.  
“Oh! Sorry I didn’t realize you had somewhere to be. I’ll let you go then, see you around Hawke!”  
“See ya.” I said giving a pitiful wave as she turned and left. I started to rush to try and meet my mom on time.  
When I got to the restaurant I was still five minutes late and could see my mom seated, waiting for me. I went and sat across from her, which gave me a window view. My mom did not say anything at first and just looked around. Then she finally after a few minutes looked me in the eye, “You’re five minutes late.”  
“Yeah I realized, a girl I know stopped me to ask me something.” I said. My excuse didn’t seem to please my mother.  
“You realize-,” she started before our waiter came over and handed us menus.   
“Hello my name is Brandon and I’ll be your waiter today. Can I get you started with some drinks?” said Brandon.  
“I’ll have a sprite please.” I said. I always get sprite when I go out to eat, it’s simply the best soda.  
“I’m sorry sir, we don’t have soda.” The waiter said sheepishly. I took a sharp breath and I think he could tell I wasn’t happy. I reminded myself that it wasn’t this poor high schooler’s fault the restaurant didn’t sell soda.  
“Do you have lemonade? If so I’ll take that” I asked. I was still baffled they didn’t sell soda.  
“Yes sir, and for you ma’am?” Brandon said, turning to my mother.  
“I’ll have an iced tea.”  
“I’ll be back in a little bit for your orders.” He said and left. My mom then turned to me again.  
“You realize nothing Hawke. You’re always late for everything.” She said. She was right though, I have a terrible habit of being late and I’ve never done anything to correct it.  
“Did you ask me out to lunch just to berate me? I could really do without it honestly.” I told her. I couldn’t stand it when she pointed out my flaws; it reminded me of my dad. He took the chance to remind me of every little screw up I made in life but my mom had always defended me. So I hated her pointing out my flaws even when she was doing it rightfully, it made me feel like all those little screw ups were as big as my dad made them out to be.  
“No, that’s not why we’re here” she said, resting her head against her hand. “Sorry if I’m snippy, I’ve been having migraines worse than I normally do.”  
“So, why are we here?” I asked. I didn’t mind spending time with my mom, but there was a lot of cleaning up to do back at the Deck of Cards and I didn’t want to have to listen to Ace whine about how he picked up the place by himself for the next two weeks.  
My mom sighed and her head drooped slightly in response. “Let’s eat before we get into that Hawke. How is the bar running?” Her quick change of the subject worried me, but I brushed it off as residual anger over my lateness. Still, I didn’t like the look she was wearing, like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.   
I decided that ignoring her discomfort was probably what she wanted so I responded to her question. “Same as usual for the most part. The only notable thing recently is that last night we had a party last night for Isabelle.”   
“Sounds nice.” was her curt response. Not long after our drinks came, shortly followed by our food and conversation drew to a stand still while we ate. When we finally finished my mom looked at me with a hard stare.   
“Hawke I don’t know how to tell you this.”, she finally said.   
“Tell me what?” I asked, concern tinging my voice.  
“I went to the doctor over the headaches I’ve been having recently. They ran some test and discovered…. well they discovered a brain tumor.” I was shocked. I couldn’t fathom what she was telling me. “It’s terminal.” she added in a small whisper.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so this isn't the story I promised but rather one I started writing four years ago and abandoned. I did a quick edit but if it's still rough you have my apologies.


End file.
